#this is that really long hero thingy

[lilac-gold]

get rekt guys my stroke of inspiration is coming for you

[sorbetisfruity]

I feel like Vil would be LIVID if he found out you were friends with Neige, hell he’d be even more pissed if he found out you’ve been friends with him for a while!!!

Let’s say Crowley gave you the week off because god damn do you need a break. And you went walking in the forest for some much needed silence and you time.

And while walking, you bump into someone. And it’s the whole cliche thing where you bump into them and you fall on top of them and your lips are nearly touching andddd-

YEAH!!! You both scramble up and your faces are brightttt red!!

You don’t recognize him, you’ve never seen him before.

But, he knows who you are.

He’s seen you in papers and the news and heard your name all throughout RSA.

You’re the person who has stopped all the overblots and fights and drama.

You’re a hero!!!

He immediately introduces himself, shaking your hand gently. Not before apologizing of course for, ya know, almost KISSING you.

And as soon as you smile, it’s love at first sight.

I hardcore believe that Neige believes in soulmates and love at first sight, and he thinks you’re the one for him.

And that’s where your friendship starts!! You guys keep in contact and hangout on rare occasions you two are free.

And absolutely no one except a couple RSA students know because imagine how much havoc that would cause??

It’s a wonder how he hasn’t posted any of the millions of pictures he’s taken of you (he’ll post them after the VDC).

Anyways the VDC comes up and that’s when you really get close with Vil. And you learn how much he HATESSSS Neige.

So, now you’ve gotta keep your friendship with Neige quiet.

Though that’s pretty hard when he delivers baked goods and flowers to your house every so often.

And when everyone’s wondering who “Prince Charming” is in your phone after Rook peeked over your shoulder one day.

We get to the day of the VDC and you’re backstage trying to calm everyone down and hopefully settle their nerves and BOOM!!

You get tackled to the ground by all the dwarves.

They’re all happy to see you, after all it’s been so long since you’ve hung out with them!!

And then here comes Neige.

Vil is FUMING.

All the dwarves get off you and Neige hugs you tightly, sitting you down immediately and playing with your soft hair.

He tells you how much he missed you and how pretty you look and how excited he is to see your group perform.

And it’s insanely clear to everyone that he’s in love with you, but whateverrrrr!!!

And his flirting continues until he has to go up and perform.

That’s when Vil confronts you and pretty much screams about how you could do so much better and that you never told him you were soooo close with the enemy.

And that’s what causes him to overblot instead of the whole almost poisoning Neige and Rook stopping him thingy.

Because he’s so upset that you are friends with Neige, and you are so close with Neige, and Neige clearly thinks you’re the love of his life.

And everything gets too much and he just, explodes.

[enden-agolor]

Thingy I did for the Admins AU 🩵💚

Context:

Basically the context of this moment is it takes place a week or something after Jesse and Lukas get their powers. Lukas is far more contained with his. He controls them quite well but Jesse on the other hand.. struggles a *lot*. And the townsfolk see it too. They see how when Jesse gets high up in his emotions, he changes, and his irritation with not being able to control his powers only stresses him out and frustrates him more and that causes like the complete form shift and that puts Jesse through like, the worst stress imaginable. Is knowing he's changing in front of people and not being able to control it and he doesn't feel like the hero he once was at all. He feels like a monster.

Anyways there's a point in time where Jesse just doesn't show his face out in town as much because he's terrified of the judgement. He gets the same strange looks he did before he ever became a hero, back when he was a nobody, so he hides from those interactions. Well Lukas definitely notices, and he ends up taking Jesse out somewhere alone, just the two of them. He takes them both somewhere away from civilization, so Jesse can really practice his stuff.

The big thing that has Jesse losing control of his powers is all of his negative emotions towards himself, so it's definitely going to be a "love solves the problem" kind of deal. I like to think one of the big things they practice is Jesse's ability to fly and stuff, and Lukas, regardless of how much Jesse tries to find a different way, decides that the best way for Jesse to really learn is by letting him hold onto him. Because Lukas is a person with a fragile body that he *knows* Jesse would do everything in his power to keep safe. Jesse though, in his admin form, is very cocky despite his sad feelings so he's kind of a brat about it but Lukas is extremely patient with him, and uhh. Jesse reluctantly holds onto Lukas while he lifts up into the air. He's really huffy and embarrassed about it too because after that whole incident in the cave where Lukas took half of Jesse's powers so he could live, Jesse has developed an unimaginable crush on Lukas. Like he already liked him before but now he's sure he loves him, and he's scared of showing those feelings because of well, how he views himself now. So he's really scared of messing this up or making himself look like a fool in front of Lukas.

But! The plan kind of works, because Lukas talks to him while he flies and since Jesse is focused on his conversation and not his emotions towards the powers themselves, it eliminates that stress and has him calmy maintaining a steady control over his flight. And eventually they're just kind of lazily drifting over the landscape, Lukas holding onto Jesse, them both focusing on the scenery as the late evening arrives and the stars begin to shine.

At this time, Jesse is still in his full admin form, he's blue and his eyes glow an eerie turquoise. But eventually Lukas has him stop and Jesse and him come to a stand in the air, Jesse holding Lukas against him and they look at each other. Lukas tells Jesse that he's so proud of him, and to look and see how much he's grown in such short time. Jesse looks around and, though his face still looks so grumpy, he does realize that they've been flying for a long time with no mistakes.

They share some really kind words to each other, Lukas praising Jesse and Jesse very quietly mumbling his gratitude for Lukas and his patience with him.

And uhh for the first time since the cave, Lukas gives Jesse a nice sweet kiss. Jesse doesn't remember it in the cave. He doesn't remember Lukas kissing him, so this comes as a complete shock (he was suuuper out of it) but quite literally every ounce of negativity drains from his body and he slowly begins reverting back to his original self. In the picture he's still in his admins clothes, but his body looks normal, aside from the crazy messy hair which is an admin trait.

Anyways yeah this is the moment Jesse realizes he for sure loves Lukas. And that kiss, and the kind words they shared, immediately calmed him. But uh. They calmed him so hard that when they kiss again, they both actually start falling out of the sky, and Lukas falls away from Jesse's arms in shock and that's when Jesse gains full control of his flight ability and swoops down to grab Lukas up bridal style in his big strong arms.

Lukas is all like "my hero" (he has the ability to fly too, so he was in no real danger, but the moment caused Jesse to take action instantly and use his powers for good).

That alone helps Jesse realize that these powers *can* be used for good. He's still a big grumpy butt in this form, but he still is that same gentle and loving Jesse deep down.

[bubsmiraculousau]

These are my OT5 brainstorm pages. Elaborations on how I got to these below! I reference concept pages so if you see any pictures you don't recognize that's why. <3

First up is Cat Noir who I think is already perfect lmao. For my version though I wanted to lean closer to his PV design because I love it, like his larger triangle nose (you can't really see it at the angle in my drawing but it's there I swear!), the bigger bell, the more elaborate belt, etc.... so basically everything ... just in my style instead.

With my designs I think that whenever someone transforms into their miraculous persona it's based on what they think a hero looks like or what they think is cool. I think Adrien reads a lot of comic books and is a fan of characters like Batman (relatable for him LOL), Catwoman, and Nightwing, so his suit reflects that kind of vibe.

Extra: I decided that Ladybug and Cat Noir's masks go all the way up their foreheads because it looks nicer in my 2D style with their bangs haha.

Next up is the one and only Ladybug! Unpopular opinion but I actually like the all red suit! My hypothetical series would be a webcomic, and I feel like in action scenes the red differentiates her from Cat Noir esp at a distance, and more red style keeps their color ratios even.

I like the ladybug designs with a bunch of black sections they're very cute! Just not for my au. (I think it's just me but I find drawing the ladybug designs with inverted red dots to feel sacrilegious in a way,,, just my neurodivergent brain lol)

And I am a long ribbons truther, I love them and they can be very expressive. Also I knew I wanted Marinette to have a more vertical circular eye shape because her shape vibe is definitely a circle (Adrien's is triangle) and it reminded me of the eyes for the main girl in princess jellyfish (I've never seen it, love the style tho)

Her hair is a more bright blue to contrast her hair against her suit, and make her look more cartoonish. I imagine her idea of a superhero comes from kids shows and some magical girl anime. So her hair has a plastic shiny texture to it because when she thinks 'superhero' she thinks of kids toys. Also I just like color! The blue kinda gives comic spiderman vibes imo (the version with the light blue instead of the navy)

Queen Bee definitely changed the most throughout the design process. I really like her in-show design so I just tweaked it to be more my vibe. Adding a crown because she's a Queen.

Something that I've noticed is that Alya and Chloe actually share a lot of traits (There's even some old concept notes where I believe Alya and Chloe either switch names or roles at some point?? The miraculous concept info rabbit hole is real y'all) and I think this comes through in their final designs.

Like they both share a middle part, which bothers me for some reason, so I decided to give Chloe a little Ariana Grande side part into a ponytail.

I wanted each character to have a cool little piece on their costume, so I tried these little hip things to make her more commanding and girlboss, but currently her weapon is similar to ladybug's (but more like one of those hair ties w the little disco balls on them) and it would sit on her hip and would clash w her hip thingies, so I just decided to make her weapon the hip things instead, combining the two.

Something else that bothered me a lot was that Rena was the only one with white on her costume. Everyone has black but she's the only one with white... my brain says that this cannot be. So I tried to give Bee some fun white fuzzy bits but the texture just was too different...

And then I had the mega-brain idea to make her hair white to tie in the white from Rena. Her and Cat Noir both having blonde hair irked me as well LOL so this hit two birds with one stone. I wanted her hair to be sharper and more aggressively drill shaped because of her abrasive personality haha.

After that, is Carapace. I had an idea for him from the start because I felt like his in-show design just doesn't match his personality... I couldn't make his outfit all loose because I wanted to stick generally to the miraculous suit formula, but I feel like 'skin tight suit' just isn't his vibe. So he has a kind of hammer pants situation.

I think they capture Carapace's b-boy ninja turtle vibe while still looking like a miraculous outfit. Though I decided later that I wanted the pants to be a lighter color for contrast and the visor to be white (to tie in that Rena Rouge white).

Lastly is Miss Rena! Something that bothered me (back on the similarities to Chloe) was that they both have ponytails (yes I know I'm crazy). Even though they have very different textures I just wanted each of them to be distinct from each other. So I put her hair down and just dramatized her regular hairstyle.

Also her and Queen Bee both have black gloves to their upper arms, which, you guessed it, bothered me. So I shortened Rena's to just reach her elbow.

I wanted her to look like a magic-man, her illusion powers evoke a showmanship energy to me. I imagine her and Cat Noir are quite the dramatic theater kid-esque duo.

So, for drama I tried some flowy arm bits, which I think ended up just looking a little strange, so I'll pocket that idea for something else. Then, I tried to add her coattail from the show, but it ended up looking a little frumpy, not the drama I wanted.

I ended up making her coat more triangular in the front, to give off the vibe of a magician's vest, and changed it to solider red/orange double coattails, which I think makes her more magic-man-ish. And I think the white ends made it too busy.

So those are my hero designs! I'm still working out Hawkmoth and Mayura, esp Hawkmoth because I am not good at drawing masculine older men...

If y'all want LESS of the artistic process let a girl know lol! I know some ppl like it but this is very long,,, all my drawings will not have text this long! thx for reading if you did tho xx

[justevelynnnn]

Nsfw alphabet Wolverine💛💙

Notes: Hellloooooo Everyone… Ok so I did see the wonderful Wolverine and Deadpool movie and now I’m obsessed with this man and this character. Like specifically this Hugh jackman wolverine. I’m gonna admit right now…I never cared about Wolverine until seeing that movie. I never saw any of the other movies either😭 I barely even know what the “X-men” are. My dad is the marvel fan so he kinda just puts me on and is the only reason I care about these hero movies to begin with… Soooo I’m sorry to any long time fans… but anyways because I just cannot stop thinking about this movie and this guy I’m doing my first ever nsfw alphabet thingy! ✨🎉🎊 Yippie!!

I mighttt do a sfw version. But I dunno, I’ve only ever seen this one movie so I might miss important little pieces of his character but I really just wanna do this so yeah😞. Sorry for rambling, I hope everyone enjoysss 👍🏾👍🏾

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Don’t let that grump personality fool you, Logan is honestly really sweet after everything is all over. He has some towels nearby to help clean you off and he’ll even offer you water. He’s experienced so he knows what he’s doing. Sometimes if he feels like he was too rough with you he’ll even try to massage your sore muscles.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

His favorite body part of he had to pick would be his arms. He spends a lot of time keeping up his fit and strong appearance. Especially his biceps, and they’re honestly your favorite part of him too.

His favorite part of you is your hips. He loves squeezing them even when he’s not in bed. He loves watching them sway as you walk. How they look in skirts and nice dresses… It’s the first thing he noticed about you and they kinda drive him crazy.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Logan doesn’t jack off a lot (he’d rather drink tbh) and with the constant missions he’s too busy to really… “relieve himself” so whenever he did get with someone he’d cum alot.

He did a lot of one night stands before you. Just meaningless sex to get off. But you changed everything. Cumming was so much better with someone he actually cared about. He loved it.

He still came quite a bit. It had no real taste or anything either.

He doesn’t care where either but he likes watching you swallow it or just watching it disappear in you in general.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He really wants to fuck you somewhere public. Even better if there’s a huge risk of being caught. He never will ask but he really hopes one day you’ll try and initiate it

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Given that he’s almost 200, he has…quite a bit. Like said before he did a lot of one night stands between missions so he eventually picked up on a lot. He knows what makes people tick.

So of course when you came along he could tell what you’d like just by how you’d walk. And of course he’s very attentive so any squirming or noise you made he’d pay attention to it all and remember for the future.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Anything he can see your face in. He doesn’t care. He’s honestly not a big fan of doggy either but if you like it he’ll do it.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

He’s a bit serious but not super serious. He’ll laugh at a few things but he won’t be telling too many jokes.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He actually keeps himself pretty neat down there. He likes to keep things shaven enough so the people that do go down on him don’t get mouthfuls of hair.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Let’s just say the better he knows you, the more intimate he is. Oh course with his one night stands he didn’t care if people finished or not and that’s just how it was. Kinda cold tbh.

With you he’s pretty intimate especially the closer y’all are. He likes to hold you close to him and sometimes if he’s feeling really sweet and sappy he’ll stare into your eyes more…

He’s not too too sweet but he’s sweet enough for being Logan.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

He never really used to jack off. Didn’t feel the appeal. Before he really got into sleeping around he’d just drink. Somehow it helped curve his lust. Then when he started sleeping with a bunch of others he jerked off even less. And when you came into his life..even less. If you two didn’t have sex for a while and he was super desperate and missing you he’d rub a quick one out. Desperate times, desperate measures!

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Other than exhibitionism and sometimes just plain dirty talking,……primal play. He’s always been a feral guy so it makes sense. He never considered it before you but you really changed him. He wasn’t into it at first though because he was scared he’d hurt you but once you said it was ok and taught him what a safe word was he tried it and it changed his life. Deep down he really loved being a bit more primal in bed with you.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

He doesn’t care or have a favorite place. Most of the time y’all end up in his bed or wherever y’all are sleeping for the night but he doesn’t care where in the end.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Before you, nothing… he didn’t care much as long as the person has a fuckable hole. He preferred women but if it was a guy he wouldn’t mind.

When you came into his life, it was everything. The way you’d talk, move, dress even sometimes. He has a lot of self control though so you weren’t aware of how crazy you drove him.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

He doesn’t wanna hurt you. He doesn’t wanna yell hurtful things at you either. You once brought up him using his claws and jut flat out declined. How would he even incorporate them? Just no.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Before you, he’d rather receive. That was kinda the whole point of sleeping around the way he would, to get off.

After he met you he became obsessed with getting you off. And he was really good at it too of course with all his experience. He loved fingering and using his tongue at the same time but if you had a preference he’d obey immediately. He just loved getting you off.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Logan was normally just lazy and sensual. He didn’t care about being a top or bottom but he’d normally default to bottom. He was never too crazy with his one night stands. He’d only be fast and rough if he was mad enough which was rare. He didn’t like hurting people during sex.

When you came along he kinda stayed the same but if you’d ask him to be a certain way he would. He didn’t like being rough with you either too much honestly.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He’s ok with them. Of course with you he’d rather spend more time making love to you but if time didn’t allow it he’d totally be down for a quickie.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

He’d experiment with the primal play thing but other than that ehhh… once Deadpool suggested a threesome, and though Logan considered it for a second he said no. Maybe if he was drunk enough…

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Being the way he is, he can go all night. This man had a lot of stamina it was actually kinda insane. Of course he’d be more tired after a mission but at minimum he could go for maybe 5, 6 rounds if that was the case?

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

He didn’t really care for toys honestly. He didn’t hate them he’d just rather not. He always was like that too even before you.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Sometimes if he was a bit drunk he’ll tease but he doesn’t really do it much. It’s rare..

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Logan’s never been too loud. He definitely grunts and groans and when he gets with you he moans a bit too. But other than that he’s quiet.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

There’s different things saying different things about his sexuality but I saw something about him behind bi and I agree

Did he or did he not fuck Deadpool in that Honda odyssey😭

I just don’t think he cared who he ended up sleeping with as long as he got off

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

He’s girthy. I firmly belief it idc. I forgot the average length but I think he’d be like 6 and a halfish. Oh and he knows how to use it too of course

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Like said he never cared to jack off but sometimes he did get a bit needy from time to time so that’s what lead to the in between mission fucks. With you he’d be good if y’all did it at least a few times a week.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

With the random people he’d sleep with, immediately. He didn’t care as long as he got off, came and the other person was done.

With you though he couldn’t until he knew you were good. Sometimes he would lay still for a bit to catch his breath but after a bit he would do his usual aftercare with you and sometimes he would wait until you feel asleep first.

[everestgale]

Skeptic for the ask thingy? :D

I'm getting through these so slowly 😭 Sorry for the wait! Time to ramble about everyone's favorite detective bird-

[Send Me a Character and I'll List Ask Game]

favorite thing about them

Weirdly, it's the contrast between how intelligent and logical Skeptic is as a character vs. how absurd and irrational the Construct is. The way Skeptic fights and seeks universal singular truth in a world that, by design, does not have any... which was so masterfully highlighted in the Cage and the new Den. I remember genuinely exclaiming "SKEPTIC NO, STOP-" when the tunnel began collapsing (though in fairness, Hero is the one who started it). And the way Skeptic blamed himself for not "thinking it through," because that's how he thinks the world around him should work:

"Why for the love of everything did I not think about the stability of the tunnels?! I'm supposed to be smarter than this! I'm supposed to have a plan for everything."

And the entire dialogue with Hero following that line, too-

...Long story short, there is something very tragic but incredibly appealing about putting a character, who is all about facts, logic, and deduction, into a world that shifts based on your perception where nothing is certain. Sorry Skeptic, love you Skeptic </3

[What's up with all these asks getting so long... more under the cut </3]

least favorite thing about them

Rewritten and deleted lines from the Prisoner. Hands down. It's one of the few things I dislike about the DLC, and I choose to not accept it as canon. I really, really miss that triumphant "I knew it!" followed by "She couldn't tip her hand to Him. He wouldn't have let us leave." It really highlighted Skeptic's intelligence, along with an innate desire to trust the Prisoner, to think of her as someone with a plan. She wouldn't just cut off her own head like that, and he knew it.

I understand that this was done to make the lead-up to the Cage easier / more natural... but I feel like there were other ways to do it! Hero is right there, and he just watched Prisoner cut her head off, he could be disturbed and panicking about the whole situation and really want to leave, which would feel quite natural too! And then perhaps Skeptic was sure that Prisoner had a plan, but after you choose to leave her behind... he isn't so sure anymore, which could lead to him slowly losing his mind and devolving during the Cage. That would've been perfect, at least in my opinion!

Honorable mention goes to the fact that, even after the Pristine Cut, he still feels a little underutilized to me. I talked about it in my Paranoid character ask, but Deconstructed Damsel -> HEA should've had Skeptic instead of Paranoid (T v T)

favorite line

"You have the attention span of a fly. How are we supposed to unravel the mysteries of this place if you're so easily distracted by empty promises?"

Honestly I feel you, Hero, I also have the attention span of a fly-

And of course, how can I not mention: "Yes, yes, don't believe a word she says. Just go in, take the knife, and do what you're supposed to. Wink."

brOTP

I already talked about how I really like the Grey Brothers (Skeptic + Smitten) dynamic in Smitten's post, it's very fun to imagine these two as very different people who have very little in common... but who still care about each other.

But I also want to mention Skeptic + Hunted. I liked the idea of them being comfortable in each other's spaces even before the extended Den. And with them working together so well in the Den post-Pristine Cut, I think they would have a pretty close friendship.

Everest trying really hard to explain a dynamic they like, without resorting to just "they cool. me like them"-

OTP

For the record, I HC my Skeptic as aroace (or demiromantic asexual, I haven't fully decided yet). That will not stop my QPR-Skeptunist from completely taking over my brain <3

There is something very appealing about their dynamic - Opportunist is trying to get on Skeptic's "good side" and is interested in how intelligent Skeptic is (and how he could utilize that intelligence for his schemes), while Skeptic is curious about Opportunist and that rat brain of his (/aff), trying to see what's beneath those layers and layers of masks that Oppy likes to wear. In a way, they are both almost trying to outsmart one another, but from a place of curiosity... which could lead them to slowly enjoy each other's company :]

Also, this ship is really funny, and it's hilarious to imagine all the stupid scenarios they find themselves in- OH, and I wrote this on them like a month ago:

"I do genuinely feel like they would, not always but often, enjoy each other's company and yap - we all know that Skeptic is listening to Oppy's endless rambles to understand that gremlin mind of his, but I feel like he would come to like Oppy's weird plans and logic as a sort of 'new perspective' - and Oppy really appreciates someone acknowledging 'his genius,' and maybe in turn, he would also listen to Skeptic's esoteric rambles on stenography (it feels like they would be interesting, and depending on the topic, Oppy could actually be genuinely interested in Skeptic's yap in like a "oh, this would be helpful for my next scheme" kind of way)"

...I like this ship way too much for how little they interact in the game (which is "not at all")

Honorable mention almost goes to ParaSkep, courtesy of @/wintergrofyuri and @/itsonlypolite. It's so close to clicking with me (it feels like a dynamic I would like, I want to like them)... but it's just barely not it, I don't know what exactly, but something is missing / just not quite clicking with me (T v T)

nOTP

Don't think I have any nOTPs for Skeptic! I haven't seen any ship with him that I disliked :]

random headcanon

I already mentioned like 3 headcanons in this post: the fact that my Skeptic is aroace (or demiromantic ace), the fact that my Skeptic knows shorthand (and writes exclusively in it), the fact that Skeptic is actually a yapper who likes to explain and go in-depth on the topics he finds interesting... /silly

Let's add another one! I like the idea of a linguistics nerd Skeptic, who is really into the etymology of words (I talked about it in this post where I talked about voice's hobbies!), sounds like the kind of thing Skeptic would be interested in.

Are any of these HCs based on anything from the game? Nope! These are all entirely based on ✨ vibes ✨.

unpopular opinion

To be honest, I don't know what counts as an "unpopular opinion" for Skeptic. I don't think I have any? At least none that I feel strongly about, most of my opinions about Skeptic are either directly based on the lines from the game OR are completely irrelevant silly HCs based on nothing but my own likes lol

song i associate with them

I very rarely listen to just instrumental music (outside of lo-fi and a couple specific artists)... but none of the songs I listen to really fit Skeptic. And so my first instinct is... the original Objection! theme from Phoenix Wright-

Also Open the Game by Jiro. Not the kind of music I usually listen to, but a friend suggested it to me as "music that fits Skeptic" a while ago, and I agree with my friend, I think it really suits him in terms of musical style :]

favorite picture of them

...I'm going to be honest, I'm currently debating if I should give Skeptic a major re-design (because something about his current design just irks me). But if I had to pick an image for Skeptic that I made, it would be this-

...I don't think I shared this before (I probably will in a doodle dump of "voices in dresses" sometime in the future), but this is Skeptic in Alice in Wonderland's dress. A few friends and I joked too much about how awful of a time Skeptic would have in Wonderland, and so this was born!

[thischarmingmandalorian]

What a Big Heart I Have

Dad!Joel Miller×Reader

Summary: You help your boyfriend Joel and his daughter get ready to trick or treat. One of my (probably too many) thingies for @jolapeno and @goodwithcheese Coffee House Fall Challenge!

Warnings: None! This is fluff and meant to be cute and fun! But I am sorry to anyone named Sarah Michelle - I don't think it's a silly name, but Toddler!Sarah is feral and I can't control her.

Pairing: Dad!Joel Miller×Reader

Word count: 1.6k

"Sarah Joanne Miller if you don't sit still, I swear to God," you hear Joel's voice coming through gritted teeth from the dining room. Turning the corner from the kitchen, you chuckle at the sight: your boyfriend trying to wrestle his preschooler into her Halloween costume.

"'S'not my middle name, daddy," Sarah replies with a huff, her words muffled through her wolf mask. You watch Joel try to put a gray flannel over Sarah's shoulders, but she's too busy running her fingers through the fur on her face. Joel huffs out a sigh and turns toward you, his eyes pleading for you to tag in.

"Alright, Sarah Renée, how about I finish getting you ready? If you want to get going, we've gotta let your dad get his costume on," you grab the flannel from Joel's hands as he mouths a thank you in your direction, his hands grasping your shoulders gently as he guides you into the chair he'd been sitting in; he gives you a chaste kiss on the forehead as you plop down. "I don't know about you, but I'm really excited to see him all dressed up!" You hear Joel give a good-natured groan as he walks down the hall.

Sarah giggles at the thought of Joel in the costume she insisted he wear, and makes a point to remind you that Renée isn't her middle name, either. She lets you put her flannel on and when you hold her wolf slippers out for her, she wiggles her little feet in snugly.

"You look so pwetty," Sarah tells you, bringing her hands up to squeeze your face gently, "I did good pickin' your costume out?"

"You did so good, Sarah Marie," you assure her, though your words come out a little slurred as Sarah giggles and squishes your cheeks a little harder between her little palms.

"Not Mawie!" Sarah shrieks with laughter, running down the hall and calling for Joel. Ever since you met Sarah, guessing her middle name has been your favorite game; even Joel has started playing along, pretending to guess himself, and never giving the truth away. It's been three years and you've never gotten it right.

You stand and give yourself a final once over in the nearest mirror. Sarah really did do a good job choosing the family costume this year. When she suggested Little Red Riding Hood, you'd assumed she would want to be the hero of the story. But she surprised you and Joel when she declared she was going to be the wolf. She'd bestowed the Little Red costume onto you - a stark white, long sleeved dress topped with a blood read cloak. You twisted your body in the mirror and watched the hem of the dress swish around your knees, grabbing the wicker basket that you planned to use to hold Sarah's candy to complete the look.

As you slip your shoes onto your feet you hear Sarah cackle from the bathroom, turning to see her back out into the hallway clutching her stomach and pointing at her dad. She was laughing so hard that she had to take the wolf mask off to dry her eyes. When she spots you at the end of the hall she calls your name, telling you through fits of laughter that "daddy's a gwandma!"

And a grandma Joel was. Naturally. It was the most obvious choice for his costume, though he fought it tooth and nail. All month long he'd tried to change Sarah's mind to no avail.

"Sarah, wouldn't you like to be Little Red?" he'd asked nightly at dinner, telling her that you'd make a perfect grandma and he'd gladly be the wolf. But every night Sarah doubled down, insisting that her dad "dwess up as the gwandma. It'll be so silly!"

And she was right. It was so silly, seeing Joel in his costume. He'd put on a curly gray wig, his reading glasses, and the ugliest nightgown he could find on the clearance rack of the local department store. The funniest part was his sneakers; they were the most single dad Nikes that you'd ever seen, dyed green from mowing the lawn and creased to hell. His nightgown had a similar length as your dress and fell at Joel's knees, leaving a few inches of his tanned skin exposed between the hem and the tops of his midcalf socks.

You couldn't help but chuckle, even though you'd wanted to be encouraging. "My, what big hair you have, grandma" you joked as you joined Joel and Sarah in the hallway, slipping a reassuring arm around Joel's waist and pulling him close to you. It was almost as if you could hear his eyes roll into the back of his head, until Sarah wiggles her little arms around both of you, squeezing as hard as she could until she had you all in a tight group hug. You feel Joel relax under your touch, reveling in the knowledge that he's made his daughter so happy.

"All right, Sarah Michelle, let's get going," Joel sighs, moving to scoop Sarah into his arms, but she backs away.

"Wolves don't need to get cawwied by their daddies! And Sawah Michelle would be a silly name!" she exclaims as she bolts for the front door, you and Joel hot on her heels.

Two hours and three trips back home to empty your full candy basket later, you and Joel started for home. Sarah had finally knocked out, having nearly fallen asleep on her feet before allowing herself to be hoisted up in Joel's arms, where she now snored softly. She had taken off her wolf mask and you now carried it by the fur on its head, looking as if Little Red had successfully slain her enemy and saved her grandma.

Joel's costume had been the talk of the town. All the old ladies who loved to fawn over Joel while he mowed lawns and built decks in the neighborhood were smitten by his portrayal of a grandma. The fellow dads you passed all seemed to give Joel discrete nods of respect for putting himself out there for his daughter.

Joel reaches his free hand out and links your fingers with his own, swinging your arms gently. "Thanks for comin' out with us, baby. I know you could've been anywhere else tonight havin' fun."

"Joel, nothing would've been more fun than seeing you in this costume," you joke, giving his hand a squeeze. "And plus," you add as Joel hands Sarah off to you to unlock the front door, "if it weren't for me, you'd have had to be Little Red Riding Hood, and honestly, you just wouldn't look as cute as I do in this getup."

Joel chuckles, placing a gentle hand on the small of your back, ushering you and Sarah through the door. "I know that's right, baby. Mind puttin' Sarah to bed while I get this friggin' wig off? Damn thing's been squeezing my skull all night."

You nod, hoisting Sarah up higher on your hip as you carry her down the hall. When you place Sarah down on her bed she sits up groggily, letting you trade her costume for pajamas. Once she's snugly tucked into her blankets, Sarah squeezes your cheeks once again between her little hands, "goodnight, Wittle Wed."

"Goodnight, Sarah Danielle," you guess, but she shakes her head, offering you a quiet "nope" before clutching her teddy bear and rolling over.

Shutting the bedroom door gently, you meet Joel in the bathroom down the hall. He fusses over himself in the mirror, poking a thin red mark on his forehead.

"You weren't kidding, that wig was tight," you chuckle, standing on your toes behind Joel and resting your head on his shoulder. Joel watches your reflection in the mirror as you prod your own fingers into the red divot, then drag your hands through his curls. Joel lets out a low growl, shutting his eyes and letting his head fall back against your shoulder.

"Did'ja finally get it right?" Joel asks, brought out of his reverie by a loud snore behind Sarah's door.

You sigh dramatically, "I guessed like, seven times tonight and none of them were right! Look, I won't tell her you said anything, but I need to know what that child's middle name is. It's driving me crazy!"

Joel turns in your arms, taking your hands and lacing them together behind his neck. His own hands find your hips, squeezing gently. "Baby, she'll kill me if she finds out I told you."

"Joel, she's 4."

"You've met Sarah! She's feral! She dressed up as a grandma-eating wolf tonight! She growled at the baby down the street!"

"I'll give you the full size Snickers I got tonight if you tell me her middle name, Joel," you offer, "and I'll keep playing along, she'll never know."

Joel chuckles, turning you around in his hold and walking you towards your bedroom, nuzzling his nose behind your ear as he shuts the door behind you. "You're gonna be so mad."

"Why? Does she have a crazy middle name? It's Bartholomew, isn't it?"

"God no," Joel laughs, "You've never guessed Sarah's middle name, baby, because she doesn't have one."

[twstfanblog]

Honestly, I just love to hear you rant!!! My request is any au you choose, with Crewel, Rook, and Vil, together or separate, your choice!!! I think your rants are super sweet and sound so much like my own to my friends!!! It kinda makes me think of when I spent 30 minutes trying to find out how much a pint of ale cost in 1843 England for one sentence in something I was writing! 😅 Too bad I'm already following you, because I would totally follow you again! Can't send the Tumblr gift thingies though, because screw American capitalism.

(That price of ale thing is literally how deep I get into world building if Im not careful XD Most days I just go, IT'S FINE YOU DON'T KNOW JUST KEEP WRITING)

Hmmmm... I've written about them all a lot in most of my AU's, honestly. I dont have anything really rant worthy left to say about...I literally had a whole hour to think about it, so instead, I'm just gonna drop another AU so I can get you something new about them. My Manhwa AU is pretty self-serving, but it's got plenty of Vil, Rook, and Crewel sprinkled in.

Basic idea of the AU is that 'Villainess' type story. Yuu was seen as a villain in the original timeline, only to die and come back in time to when she was a child with her full memories. She vows to change her ways and not die in such a way again.

Crewel and Crowley are Yuu's birth parents (Because my AU's are just the same universes in different settings-oop) Crewel married Crowley 100% for the money and power since Crowley was an arch duke. You couldn't call it a marriage of convenience hard enough. But of course, Crewel had to have a puppy to fufill his duty. Crewel will openingly treat Crowley like the bumbling man he pretends to be, but he is an adoring yet stern father to his precious puppy. So you can imagine when she wakes up one day and doesn't act like herself at all. He's so concerned about her...

Vil isn't nobility, but he and his father are both rich and popular enough to buy a title. Both actors, Vil leaves for the performance to the point he was called a succubus by one of his cast stars (teenagers acting so good one falls in love but the other is like 'dude we were acting, calm down'). Vil holds onto his issues with always being casted as a villain but he holds it in much better because hes just happy that he's well liked enough to always perform. As he gets older in this AU he starts to really show his support for the arts and all who create it. He's even started looking for investors to help him fund an acting school.

Rook is a noble man, lover of the odd and offbeat art, no one but his family really accepted his art. But he tried and he shared it with everyone he could. Vil saw it during an artshow and kinda tore it apart publicly by going on and on about how disturbed it made him feel. The current brownnoser tried to 'agree' saying it was bad art.

Vil:

Vil: There's no such thing as "bad art", you toad. I said it disturbed me, I find it grotesque is a very...eyecatching way. It's not bad because it made me feel something.

So Rook falls in love instantly and basically hunts this mean beauty.

They end up working well together because Vil has FINALLY found someone willing to write him in a hero role and PROPERLY CRITIQUE THINGS WITH. They discus art and what makes something 'moving' vs 'shock value'. They fall in love hard for each other to the point Vil accepted Rook's proposal and is already 60% planned through their wedding. Only to realize he never told anyone when his dad asked if he was open to seeing anyone because he's been told many a young man and lady would like to court him.

(SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO DO!!!)

[holy-obsession-batman]

Tim and Steph, two halves of the same Barbara Gordon

So I did Dick and Jason order switch prompt (based on the idea that *if* Jason is Bruce’s first son, becoming the first child vigilante wouldn’t even cross his mind) some time ago, as a sorta reverse Robin thingie, and while I was writing this I was wondering where Tim would fit in all this.

I didn't know how to include him, because there are several factors in his becoming a vigilante, and every single one of them, directly or indirectly, boils down to Dick Grayson/Robin.

the childhood trauma of the Flying Grayson's death lead Tim to an obsession with DG, from which he finds out (by luck) Batman and Robin's identity

same obsession with DG/Robin evolves into hero worship & concern for the Bats' well-being

The death of Robin II, leading to Tim knocking on the Bats' door, wouldn't be if it wasn't for the Robin mantle

and again, like for Jason, without the model figure of the 9 ys old Boy Wonder, fighting right on the streets with the Bat, the idea to become himself a kid vigilante wouldn't have crossed Tim's mind.

Tim in canon is Robin first, and a member of the family second -- without Robin, he's just a smart, nerdy kid with maybe some vague self-defense moves (no world-class detective nor martial artist, which he becomes *after* joining the family), and absolutely nothing to draft him to crime fighting life.

But. Childhood trauma-induced obsession notwithstanding, Tim *is* the thirteen ys old civilian who chose to offer himself for the protection of the city even tho he had parents and a stable life. Of course this selfless little freak will end up in the business of heroics, even without the Bat's business card.

With that out of the way, I can now make this a full-fledged Reverse Robin!

The Spoiler is the first vigilante (other than Batman) to stalk Gotham's rooftops. She first sets out to spoil her father's plans, sending clues about the Cluemaster to the GCPD, but she grows to be the protector of the suburbs which Batman rarely visit.

Of course it doesn't take too long for the Batman to find out about Stephanie Brown. He tries to send her home, because it's too dangerous and crazy for a 16 years old teenager to get into crime fighting but she flips him right the fuck off. (not only without Robin Batman has no experience in teenage vigilante wrangling, but for Steph too, accepting the meddling and supervision of an adult is something she won't even consider, without the Boy Wonder to make 'Batman's partner' something to aspire to)

Since he can't actually force her to do anything, Batman reluctantly allow a team up in dealing with the Cluemaster, and then gives her some training, for both her safety and so she doesn't do damages instead of helping. The mentorship doesn't last because they butt heads to much: Batman is too stubbornly controlling, and Steph too stubbornly allergic to authority figures.

In the end, Batman resignedly leaves the Spoiler to her own device in her turf, the suburbs, on the condition that she respects the no-kill rule (with a comm line for emergencies).

And if a letter finds Stephanie congratulating her for qualifying for the Wayne scholarship, well, what does that have to do with anything?

In brief, Steph's Spoiler begins like Barbara's Batgirl: independent teen vigilante, not that much training in he field, refuses to be B's sidekick.

Tim gets the Oracle bit. Going out in the streets at night to fight crimes? Yikes. Not for him. But like Babs post-Killing Joke, he realizes the potential of the computer world and that he's very good at computers. He's 15 when he starts his hacker vigilante career -- sending his solved cold case to the GCPD, then sending tips and gathered evidences... Because he chose it when he was a 15 years old nerd with archaeologist parents, his moniker is 'Thot' (with a baboon logo).

Next, he becomes Spoiler's 'guy in the chair'. Not really decided how they meet -- do Spoiler attract Thot's attention when she drops her clues at GCPD, and then Thot figured out her identity as Stephanie Brown? Or did Steph and Tim meet at school (since she got Wayne fondation scholarship), and then Tim figured out Steph was Spoiler? Hum...

In any case, Tim get connected to Batman via Spoiler's comm line, and starts coordinating with him too. They don't know each other's identity, tho (at first at least) -- which means Batman let 'Thot' vigilante around as he pleases, because he doesn't *know* that it's a 17 ys old.

Timeline:

12 ys old Jason gets adopted by Bruce Wayne.

15 ys old Tim starts Thot, vigilante hacker (Jason: 13)

16 ys old Steph sets out as the Spoiler (Jason: 14, Tim: 16). During the same year, connection of Spoiler, Thot, and the Bat

9 ys old Dick is adopted by Bruce Wayne (Jason: 15, Tim & Steph: 17)

Next I got planned for this universe: some possible plot lines, Gotham Academy shenanigans, Damian and Cass, and then maybe a look at the next gen with the Huntress, Azrael, Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson!

(I don't have Duke. I'm sorry. It's not that I dislike his character, but I'm not into the Nu52 --the little I read didn't enthuse me -- and I avoid writing characters for which I haven't read at least a bit of canon)

(Masterpost)

[cyberrcyanide]

my thoughts on the whole cyanide situation

hi as cyanides 1# fan i am required by law to make a post about this/HEVJ also like half of this is copied and pasted from discord because i am NOT rewriting all that/SILLY also sorry for any spelling mistakes:(

SPOILERS AHEAD

anyways, if ill be 100% honest, i kind of dont like the fact that cyanide was purifed/uncorrupted. it was one of her most unique traits and i hate how that was just, boom, taken away from her just like that

they also didnt really have to uncorrupt her, she isnt hostile and pretty much harmless as long as she dosent touch the chest shape doohickey whatever those are things, as seen in episode 9, where she sat on the couch and did not corrupt it at all, and when tsavorite held her along with the other heroes who were quite literally squished together and nobody got hurt

as seen here, cyanides ONLY time corrupting something which in this case is circusic, by just touching his chest thingy

and as i mentioned, tsavorite held cyanide on the way to the poly forest, along with cyan and gold who were squished against her, and not getting hurt at all, which quick recap for a sec heroes cannot get corrupted, whenever the corruption/anything corrupted touches them they get hurt, which in this case nobody is

and i have a bit more examples but i think these are enough unless yall want more

ANYWAYS, onto the purification and maturing, THE DISAPPOINTMENT I FELT. THE DISAPPOINTMENT. i cannot stress enough how much i PRAYED this wouldnt happen, but brittany always proves us wrong and gets our hopes up one way or another

but dont get me wrong, i adore her design! its cute, sure, but it was WAAAYYYY too early to pull the purification card on cyanide, it couldve waited a few more episodes, or seasons... or just never (this could be biased but STILL) cyanide had SO MUCH potential as a character but just POOF!!! GONE!! BUUUUUUT i absaloutely loved the bossfight tho, absaloute banger 10/10

and as for the name, i dont really know how i feel about it. its supposed to be similar to cyan, sure, but it just... dosent really fit her if ill be honest. ive seen some cool alternitives like Skye and Nithiodote (which honestly i might start using whoever thought of that you deserve a gold star), and also the one i came up with, Cyanogen. (which im really proud of myself for that:3) but overall its a pretty nice name for her, she chose it herself so at least shes happy

and now the actual design, its adorable, ill agree on that one, but its kinda... too much for a hero?? it dosent really scream "hero" to me, and i dont know if im the only one who thinks this though, like.. its kind off tacky and makes her look out of place in a way and im really sad about that

ALSO ONE MORE THING, can i say she was SSUUCCHH good angst material?? we never really got to actually get to know her better, all we know shes a naive, (used to be) corrupt that wants to be a hero and also is a robot, we dont really get to dive into her actual personality and thats what i was hoping this episode will be if ill be honest

anyways i ran out of things to write so yap over everyone go home/SILLY feel free to correct me im open to criticism:)

[katerinaaqu]

What were Achilles' relationships with his parents like?

Also, I'm curious to know-did Peleus rape Thetis or did they love each other?

My dear Anon...I believe that we should ease down with this notion that everyone looks for the ancient Greek heroes to have raped their wives (and I blame this ridiculous modern culture of retellings that present it as such, not you by any means). That being said there are some interesting parts though:

Pausanias mentions a small incident in which essentially Peleus seizes Thetis by the hand and she sends a snake against him but it doesn't go down to details and he seems to be making some sort of a mention to a piece of artwork instead. The nature of it could easily be the marriage as well that includes the wrestling between them. There is another roman source, specifically Catullus that claims he saw her naked and was taken over by lust but he didn't mention a move against her. Apollodorous also seems to mention an incident in which she transforms to avoid him but interestingly that seems to be their wedding "ceremony" given how Peleus was advised by Chiron to hold her at all costs if she tries to transform, which he does and despite the efforts of Thetis to get free, she is then forced to accept the arranged marriage with Peleus. Generally speaking she tries to avoid him but it seems the marriage is arranged upon her. I am not sure if any of these incidents mentioned are mentioning any sort of rape but rather her unwillingness to stay with him. The aspect of transformation to avoid him seems to be apparent to their duel/wrestling as well so I suspect all these are different versions of that.

So to my knowledge I am not aware of the actual rape even happening. Most of the sources I find and detect are those who speak on him seizing her by the arm, which is depicted in artwork as part of his wrestling match with her which obviously was her trying to avoid him but at the same time seems to be connected to the marriage between the two. In fact his seizing of Thetis was advised by Chiron himself (always according to Apollodorous) so that Thetis would be bound in matrimony so other gods wouldn't claim her. So basically the point was to hold her as she transforms and he was protected by the gods only as long as he didn't let her go. In fact there even is a version in Apollodorous in which Peleus was falsely accused for forcing himself upon the wife of Acastus (she was the one to make the accusation because she fell in love with Peleus)

Either way no Thetis arguably never wanted to marry Peleus in the first place. Her marriage was arranged and out of obligation.

However your ask is VERY interesting! And I think indeed Achilles's relationship with his family is not a matter that is talked much and THANK you for asking it!

On the matter of the marriage: I have answered a small thingy to another ask:

To summerize a bit; Thetis was definitely not happy with her marriage. The fact that she was given to a mortal king when she was arguably courted by the two most powerful gods in the world (Zeus and Poseidon) was the very least disgrace for her. Also she tried to fight Peleus according to some versions (which again shows how powerful Thetis really is) and the gods stood by the side of Peleus, helping him to defeat her and so Thetis had no choice but to accept the arranged marriage even if she was not pleased. On top of that she knew that her son was born mortal and to make matters worse, he was destined to die young. That would have hurt her deeply. What is worse as I mentioned to my other ask, Peleus's distrust in her intentions with her own child hurt her deeply enough for her to basically take a divorce from Peleus and return to the sea.

Now for the main part of your BEAUTIFUL ask! I think we should start with his relationship with his mother; Achilles is definitely a mama's boy if I am allowed the phrase. Thetis overly indulged her son, which makes sense given the situation. It would be the equivalent of a mother knowing that their son has a terminal illness or a serious disability that would turn her child knowingly to an early grave. So she hears his every request. In the Iliad she doesn't even ask questions as to why Achilles wished for the destruction of the entire army of the Greeks. She just went to Olympus to confront Zeus. She also brings nectar and ambrosia to sustain the body of Patroclus, not forcing Achilles to part with it but she chose to preserve it close to him and save it from sepsis. She is arguably able to do ANYTHING she can for her son. She even plotted to be dressed as a woman and live among the women in Skyros rather than sending him to war to die. She also doesn't seem to be pushing him to fight as opposed to the ideal of war and glory. Thetis is putting her love for him first and everything else second. When Achilles was bawling his eyes out over the body of Patroclus she came right out of the water and she came to console him, asking him what had happened and hearing his story.

Peleus is definitely a subject not discussed often. I should say that for example from texts such as Argonautica, we know that Peleus loved Achilles much as to openly doubt his own wife when he saw her holding the child over the flames (as opposed to the other versions that have her dip him in Styx river. He definitely went to his wife even if she is a goddess that can easily have power over him. Once he thought she was up to no good he immediately went to defend his son, even if according to Argonautica this seems to be the final stroke of their divorce. He also cared enough for his son's education as to give him to Chiron who was known to train heroes. In the Iliad it is also mentioned how Peleus advised Achilles to always aim for the best. Now Achilles himself as it is typical of him, cares deeply for his father. Although we do not see the same level of intimacy between them as he speaks with respect for him, he still cares enough to ask Odysseus if he has heard on his father, in the Odyssey and if he is still a proud man who stands tall in his position or if age has taken over him, because, as he says, he is not there to be of assistance of him. He even says that he wishes he had but one hour to go up to the world of the living and defend his father. So it seems to me Achilles cares deeply And that makes sense given how he lived with his father a large portion of his life if indeed Thetis left their home when he was young (in a way he is a kid of divorced parents! Hehehe). Peleus in his turn even tried to fight fate back. He promised to Spercheus river the hair of his son if his son was to return alive from the war. He knew it was an impossible wish and yet Peleus cared deeply enough to try. So I should say both parents loved Achilles very deeply and tried their best to keep him alive despite the fact that he was bound to ill fate since before he was born. In one way that shaped the character of Achilles as well like every child overly protected or indulged by his parents; he learnt to care deeply; unhealthily deeply

If I am allowed modern psychology; maybe that is the reason Achilles needs to keep people he cares about so close to him. He knows his parents loved him and yet one way or another he was separated by them (his parents separated, his father sent him for education to a wise tutor so that he would become the best in everything, his mother sent him to pretend being a woman so that she wouldn't see him die. In one way he was the golden child, the person that the others tried to shield and protect from everything his fate but also intrigues and evils in the world included. Achilles was introduced to violence way too fast way too intensely and that shaped him. He joined wars in a young age. He witnessed a human sacrifice in Aulis (or attempt of it depending on a source). He fought a conquering war, he had his honor stripped from him and eventually he lost the only person he had hoped would be forever with him. No wonder then that he kept falling deeper and deeper in his violence and in a way madness till there was nothing left of him when he died.

Sorry outside the point! Hope that helps a little!

[catiecat1320]

Participating in Sonadowtober this year!! Really excited and probably gonna fail but we ball

Prompt 1: “I Found You, Faker!”

Read Below 🔽

Of course it had to rain.

It was as if some higher force had cursed him with terrible luck. It might as well suddenly start thunderstorming now.

The original plan had been simple enough, but things rarely ever turn out as expected. For once Sonic wished everything would go smoothly. But no, there was a faker using his face, running around and getting him accused of unspeakable acts.

Heh. Sounds familiar…

He absentmindedly played with the device on his wrist, hoping to trigger something that could help him. An umbrella, maybe. He was getting drenched.

Stupid imposter and their stupid tricks. Although he wasn’t exactly playing hero here, he wouldn’t ever go out of his way to hurt someone purely for the sake of an act. But the few that had spotted his face probably didn’t believe that, and so he’d rather keep anyone else ignorant of his true identity. 

Hard to do when his face is uncovered.

Sonic smacked the device and sighed. Standing up, he wiped the rain from his eyes and looked up at the whole procession of vehicles, hoping to find a relatively clear path. He needed to keep up. Man, it’d been so long since he’d been chased like this, he was getting out of practice. Let’s see…

“Found you.”

A sharp PING of metal on metal, and the next thing Sonic knows, he’s falling, the gear knocked out from right under him. Managing to snag his perpetrator’s board just barely, he sighs a short lived breath of relief as an all too familiar voice whispers, “...Sonic?”

Ruby eyes bore holes in him as he looks up. Protected by a hood, they seem to glow in the dark. A bit too menacing for his liking. “Hey, Shadow! Fancy seeing you here!” Sonic laughs, flashing the best smile he could muster while dangling what was likely thousands of feet above ground. “New fit?”

His rival scowled, tugging his brown cloak tighter. “I should be asking you that.”

“It’s… not what it looks like, I swear.”

“Then explain. Now.” 

“Could I at least get my gear back first?” Sonic eyes the board floating away in the wind, silently willing it to return. It didn’t work.

“I said now.”

“Alright, alright! Long story short, something fishy’s going on with Cleansweep. Tails and Amy are in the big shuttle right now, investigating it. I was supposed to create a distraction with this fancy getup, which worked pretty well until someone copied my whole schtick and made it worse. And now my thingy’s broken—” he shakes the malfunctioning device for emphasis “—and everyone who saw me thinks I’m the bad guy. Crazy, I know. But you gotta believe me—”

“I do.”

“I…! Uh… wait what?”

“I believe you.” Shadow grabs his wrist and pulls him onto the board. “You do many things, but you’d never hurt anyone without cause. That whole act was unlike you.”

“Gee, thanks I guess.” That saved a lot of talking. Sonic supposed he underestimated his rival’s understanding of him. He couldn’t help the grin that tugged at his mouth as Shadow flew him over to his drifting Eggstreme Gear. Of all people… Shadow might have been the best one to run into, ironically.

“Stop smiling like that. You look stupid.” Shadow undoes his cloak and tosses it at Sonic, who fumbles with it in surprise.

“What’s… this for?”

“You are stupid.”

“What—!” Then it clicks. “Ohhhh. Oh yeah, I knew that. Cloak. Disguise. Duh. But uh… don’t you need it?”

Shadow shakes his head. “I brought it along for the rain. It’d be of more use to you. I can handle getting wet.”

“...Thanks, dude.” Sonic smiles as he puts it on. Unfortunately, his rival immediately ruins their nice moment with a glare.

“Don’t ‘dude’ me.”

“Sorry, sorry.” He rolled his eyes. Typical Shadow. He can’t say he was surprised. “Didya have to ruin the moment?”

Shadow doesn’t answer his question, instead turning his board around to leave. He doesn’t get far before Sonic calls after him. “Wait… where are you going?”

“You’re handling this just fine on your own.”

“But… That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I have faith in you. You don’t need me to hold your hand any more than I want to. Do your part, and I’ll do mine.”

Shadow’s expression is the perfect blend of unreadable and untouchable. Crimson eyes lock onto emerald with a look that makes Sonic glad he’s no longer on the opposing side.

“If you’re really curious… I’ve got a faker to find.”

[the-mountain-flower]

The Exiled and The Outcast

Chapter Eleven: And The Dinner Here Is Never Second Best~

Falst placed another book in the “X” pile, having finished skimming through it. He picked up the next one, and only took a glance at the cover before immediately placing it on top of the previous one.

“That was quick.” Dainix joked amicably, one of Falst’s books open in front of him.

“I’m a fast reader.” Falst quipped back, a smile on his face. “That one’s a Life spellcarving textbook, it doesn’t have anything fire-related unless you count burn treatment.”

Dainix glanced at the other books on the desk. “You’re really into spellcarving, aren’t you?”

“Eh, not that much,” Falst looked away, the smile falling. “I just… had reason to learn some, that’s all.”

Seeming to take the hint,  Dainix turned back back to his own reading.

Falst picked up the last book in the pile and started skimming through it.

It wasn’t until several minutes later, that the awkward silence was broken.

Falst looked over in confusion, and maybe a bit of concern. “You good?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dainix responded, collecting himself. “Just a… mistranslation, I think. Ainoru did not get nasty with the Jandarra the Clever. He killed them.”

“Oh! Oh, that makes so much more sense.”

“Right?! Jandarra’s other stories make it clear they weren't interested in that kind of thing. I don’t think there’s anywhere in the Rauan Desert where they tell this version.” He gestured to the book in his hands.

“How did that even happen?”

“I have no idea, but I get the feeling this isn’t written directly from the source.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“Yeah.” Dainix sighed, and shook his head. “I kind of expected something like this, but still.”

“You expected to read that a legendary hero fucked an assassin?”

That got a chuckle out of Dainix. “Not specifically. I just meant that I didn’t expect much of  whatever I find that I know about to be… well, we’re a bit more isolated from everywhere else than we are with each other, mostly thanks to environmental differences. I’m not surprised that what this place does have isn’t that accurate.”

“But, you’re still searching.”

“It’s the only thing I can do, unless I give up. And, I like to think there’s at least a chance of me figuring out, of returning home someday.”

Was he saying that part to Falst, or to himself?

Falst picked up the books from his secret spot to go put them back, mildly disappointed that none of them had given Dainix anything to work with. But he supposed that was the risk of looking so far abroad for something so obscure.

Falst picked up another book on his way back to the desk, but when he came back Dainix wasn’t there, presumably off looking for something else that might tell him something useful.

Falst plopped himself down on the chair he’d claimed, but didn’t open his own book just quite yet. His pensive gaze landed on the candle he’d been using last night. The wick was black and curled, the flame long extinguished. A few drops of wax had cooled down before reaching the bottom, frozen in time halfway down. It had no reason to still be there, but it was, because it just hadn’t been removed.

“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t know why I’m here, either.”

“Are you talking to the candle?”

Falst grimaced. How much of that had Dainix heard?

“Of course not.” Falst responded with faux nonchalance. “Candles burn down. I was talking to the metal thingy that’s holding it.”

“Ah, my mistake.” Dainix’s smile had no business being warmer than any flame that candle could’ve made. “Is it a good conversationalist?”

Falst laughed. “Totally. Just make sure the clock over there doesn’t think you’re talking to it. It’s very self-absorbed.”

Falst’s heard gave an unexpected flutter when he made Dainix laugh again.

This was probably the first time Falst didn’t bother to hide while waiting for Dainix to prepare the meal. There was just no reason for it at this point.

Before trying Dainix’s food, Falst would definitely have been suspicious of the idea of spicy stuff with fruit of all things. He still wasn’t quite sure how Dainix made it work without diminishing the sweetness, but he sure wasn’t going to complain. For being unfamiliar with most of the ingredients, Dainix was very adept at creating something incredible from his supply, and Falst had to wonder what he was capable of in an actual kitchen. It was mesmerizing, how he kept his gaze so steadily on the food he was working with, keeping his hands busy; but his shoulders looked so relaxed, and there wasn’t a moment where his expression wasn’t graced with a gentle smile.

Falst was so lost in watching Dainix’s cooking, that he almost didn’t notice him putting more of the fruit in half of the food- the doclionana he’d called it- than in the other. He didn’t miss that when Dainix handed half of the dinner to Falst, it was the ones with more fruit.

“Here you go. Careful, it’s still hot.”

Falst almost laughed at the warning, coming from someone who was just holding the food he was cooking directly over the fire with his bare hands.

The doclionana was delicious, and once again Dainix had managed to make it so that it was simultaneously spicy and sweet in a way that didn’t cancel each other out or clash. How much different was it from what Dainix made for himself?

Was it possible for Dainix to have noticed Falst’s preference for sweetness?

He couldn’t have. There was no way he was paying that much attention to him. For as much as Falst paid attention to Dainix, he thought there was no reason for it to go the other way around.

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Plot twist: Dainix's cooking is so good that the furniture comes to life and starts singing about it ;P

I was completely overthinking the food part way more than I had to. just to end up using a made-up word that means nothing irl and hand-waving it as "it's fiction" for the sake of saving me from myself lol (this chapter was already difficult for me)

Remember to drink water, eat food, take your meds (if applicable), and get enough sleep. Love you all, and have a great [insert time here]! <3

[dca-prompts]

I really should give a shot at making my own little AU thingy.

I keep thinking about one where Y/N is an Anti-Hero/Vigilante on the side and still does the Daycare Attendant job. And eventually, one shift Y/N comes in with a bit of a nasty cut/bruise that they fail to hide from Sun/Moon, clearly self treated but sloppy.

The DCA asks Y/N how they got it, and Y/N makes up a story. As the DCA gives better treatment to the injury, they suddenly notice scars. Lots of them, gained over a long period of time. Sun would probably say they seem to be very accident prone, and Moon would probably outright ask "Did you get all of these the same way?". But both would know Something Is Up.

It would get to a point where Y/N's side job and actual job eventually collide, as someone follows them to where they work one night. A survivor from one of their Vigilante escapades.

Moon, sees that Y/N is being followed by a stranger with a weapon, about to jump in and protect Y/N from them as Sun urges them to do so... only for Y/N to quickly react to the person following them, and taking them down rather violently, their full strength and Vigilante side on display.

And it's only after the deed is done, that Y/N turns around, and sees Moon staring, Moon's gaze meeting their blood-covered face, Y/N's smirk vanishing as they quickly and suddenly realize that their co-worker and trusted friend now knows how much of a monster they actually are. Silence hangs in the air, and the only sound that can be heard for those impossibly long seconds is the sound of blood dripping off of Y/N and onto the ground.

ㅤ

[hypewinter]

3 HC Prompt thingy!

1). Cracked Core AU

2). Full Ghost AU

3). Good Parent Fenton AU

(Yes, I am setting this up as easy angst:) )

Apologies if this was supposed to be three separate prompts because my mind is going down a 3 in 1 route.

Danny gets tired of protecting Amity. Really tired. Don't get him wrong, he loves protecting people. Obsession or not. It's just that he really misses having a normal life and figured taking a break for a while wouldn't be bad. Especially when his parents offered to take care of things during his little impromptu vacation. So Danny takes a little step back and his parents take over and all goes swimmingly.....until it doesn't.

You see it turns out a ghost's obsession is a little more serious than Danny has given it credit for. In fact, it doesn't take long at all for Danny's obsession with protection to rear its head. He keeps getting these twitches in his body and pangs in his chest. Both seeming to call him to action. To pick up the mantle of being a hero again. But Danny just chalks it up to missing his quip filled fights with his rogues and ignores these feelings. Until he wakes up one night with an unimaginable pain in his chest.

It feels like he's shattering into a million pieces. Like his chest is being forcibly ripped open. Like he's dying. All Danny can do is scream. He screams as a terrible fire-like feeling ignites in his chest and spreads through his body. He screams as his parents rush in and ask him what's wrong. He screams as he's loaded into the spectre speeder and taken to the Far Frozen. He screams until Frostbite injects him with something and the pain dies down to a numb throbbing.

As Danny calms, Frostbite asks him a question: "Have you been fulfilling your obsession recently?" At first, Danny says yes. After all, it's only been a week since he stopped protecting Amity Park. But Frostbite continues to prod until Danny tells the truth.

There's a grave look on Frostbite's face and he informs Danny how important one's obsession is. How it needs to be fulfilled constantly. One can only go about 3 days without fulfilling it. Then Frostbite gives the Fenton's even graver news. Danny's core is cracked.

Typically this is debilitating for a ghost but not the end of the world but Danny is a halfa and they have no way of knowing how it'll affect him. It may be fine. But it might also kill him. Given his vitals in the last hour, Frostbite is leaning towards the latter.

Luckily there is an experimental procedure that's been developed to heal cracked cores but the process has a decent chance at killing off Danny's human side. So Danny is left with two choices: Become a full ghost, or risk having a final death.

Danny's not sure he wants to do that though. To become a full ghost would mean severing his last ties to humanity. He'd have to live in the ghost zone full time to get enough ectoplasm. He'd no longer be able to go to school, get a job, or start a family. He didn't want to do the procedure, but he was dying, so he's parents signed off for him.

The procedure works and Danny is now a full ghost with a now whole again, albeit slightly damaged core. But nothing is the same. He watches the whole move on without him as he continues to fervently protect the innocent. He sees his parents grow old in the blink of an eye and his friends are moving on to better things in a snap. The world continues turning and people come and go but Danny cannot. For he is the constant protector.

[trainsinanime]

Trains in Anime - Arcane Season 2

As you may have heard, the second season of Arcane is out. Arcane is a complex and amazing show about love and loss, about power and class, about friends and family, about playing god and being god. It’s amazing, it’s beautiful, it’s heartbreaking, it’s an ad for a game you should never ever play, it sets the benchmark for what animation can be and do in this decade and beyond.

But most importantly, it has trains. Let's talk about them.

Prison Train

Apart from a few new angles on the funicular we already know from season 1 and some mine carts, there are two interesting train-like thingies in this season. The first one appears in episode 4 and is used to bring prisoners and main characters to the prison island. And it's weird.

Individual train cars run on two parallel lines of… something, with an overhead line ostensibly providing electric power (there are sparks from it). The running lines are not directly supported by anything, they run between pillars in the sea, and there, they're placed on some roller structures.

The main thing that gets me about this is structural. Are these ropes or steel beams? Either way, why don't they bend?

It's easy to say this is wrong and just move on, but it's more interesting to think of ways this system can make sense.

Personally, I choose to interpret it as a variation of the Aerobus design.

Picture: Rowema AG, CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Aerobes is a classic gadgetbahn, a thing where an inventor said, "trains are boring, let's do a new thing that's exactly the same but proprietary, untested and less practical". In this case, it was a Swiss aerial cable car designer who came up with it. The design is that the train cars run on either two parallel steel beams or cables that are above it, and that are themselves suspended in the air. The resulting thing doesn't look too different from e.g. the Wuppertal Schwebebahn or similar systems (not that there are many), but with a much lighter infrastructure based mostly on steel ropes. Two commercial lines were built in the 1970s, one in Québec that lasted surprisingly long, one in Mannheim, Germany, for an exhibition, and that was where it stopped.

With the weird roller thing, I'm choosing to interpret this prison transport system as a similar thing. In this case the carrying rails/ropes are underneath the vehicle, but that doesn't change much. The vehicle is probably self-propelled and the rollers are just there to deal with heat expansion. I'll assume it's some magic steel so the wires don't move perceptibly as the vehicles pass over it. The vehicles themselves are only run singly, never as trains, presumably to avoid overloading the system.

There are two vehicles, one with a ramp, one with doors that open outwards. It's possible that this represents the totality of that system. Somewhat unusually for a prison train, the system is fully automated and can be used easily by escaped prisoners and by bloodthirsty alchemical monsters trying to break in. It looks cool though.

Intermodal transport

The other rail thing I want to talk comes at the end of the show, episode 9, and here Netflix really screws me over. It was basically impossible to take screenshots, even though it worked just fine for episode 4. They ended up crazy blurry, of the wrong moment, whatever. I've been making use of Fancaps.net, whose collection is exhaustive, but sadly they tend to focus more on important character moments and cool stuff and less on rail infrastructure. So please excuse the wall of text.

At that point in the show a big invasion is happening, and our heroes are trying to defend themselves. One of the means they have is an innovative form of multimodal container transport. The shipping container is brought to the loading station by rail. From there, it is lifted by magic, through a magic gate… and then fired at high speed at the enemies. Fun!

The shipping container and the flat car are both designed to be a bit fantastical, not a direct copy of our modern world, and I can respect that, even though I don't know how these angle brackets are actually supposed to hold the container in place.

But then… look at that truck. Or bogie. I'd give you a better angle but Netflix insisted on making it blurry. Hell, I'll give it to you anyway.

Ignore the foreground, that's just characters frantically trying to save someone's life. What's important is the railroad truck. And as you can sort of see, that's clearly a Y25!

Okay, back up a bit, let me explain. So most rail vehicles have four axles. To go around corners easily, these are not directly attached to the main body. Instead two axles in the front and two in the back are attached to a special frame that can swivel and pivot; the truck or bogie. I think one of these terms may be British and the other North American, but as someone who is neither, I don't actually know, as far as I can tell both are in use.

As the part that holds and guides the axles, provides most of the suspension, takes all of the shocks that the suspension can't, holds braking equipment and propulsion equipment, the bogie of a train is super important. There is a lot of research and development in that area, with designs being constantly refined and improved.

Except when it comes to freight cars. For freight cars, there are two bogies: The French one, used in Europe (excluding the former Soviet Union, probably Finland, and for the UK it's difficult), and the American one, used everywhere else.

This division isn't quite accurate, but it's accurate enough. It's not a law by any means, people keep inventing new trucks for freight cars all the time. But they rarely get sold much. The standard designs are good enough, they get produced in large numbers for cheap, and since they're so standardised, if you use them, you can skip a significant number of steps the approvals process that otherwise come with inventing a new type of rail vehicle.

I am somewhat lying here, in that both the French and the American design are actually large families with many different types, and I assume in particular American rail fans will be angry when I say all their bogies look the same to me… but I'm correct anyway, sorry.

I don't have any good pictures of the American style, so have one from a model railroad car instead:

These are known as Bettendorf-style or sometimes "three piece bogie", their central part is that they have two side frames that hold the axle ends, and one central bolster connecting them. The springs are between the side parts, the bolster isn't directly fixed to them. Rides well on rough tracks, which is why you'll sometimes, rarely, see them on maintenance of way equipment in Europe (although generally beefier versions of the same design. Same in the US).

In contrast, the French version is the Y25.

It also consists of one bolster and two side frames. However, it also usually has additional relatively weak parts at the front and end. The bolster is fixed to the side frames, but it's designed to flex in itself. The springs are between the side frames and the wheel bearings. A characteristic part for the standard type is the "belly" between the wheels, and the hole in there.

Arcane is made by Fortiche, Fortiche are French, and thus their rail car gets a Y25. They spaced it up a little, and in the course removed the suspension and brakes and added a plate over the hole where the central bolster attaches, but it's still clearly a Y25 type bogie.

The rest of the track is a bit weird. The train car doesn't have flanges, instead it runs in grooves in the ground. It's also unclear how it's moved there; it seems to be some kind of winch (you need to turn a handle really hard or push the train car with superpowers). Most importantly, it's unclear why someone built a container delivery railway to the top of the city's tallest tower in the first place. But I am absolutely delighted by the Y25 freight car bogie there.

If you are interested in the wide world of freight car bogies, and you speak German, I strongly recommend Drehgestelle.de, a delightfully old-fashioned website by a single guy who really cares very much. He charts the history of the Y25, the Bettendorf bogie, the earlier Diamond bogie, the German counterpart to the Y25 that used to be popular until it got outlawed, and all the various weird other things that have been tried.

All in all, a good show, I can recommend it.